Arsenal 1 Portsmouth 0:THE RELIEF among the Arsenal support was palpable when Calamity rode to their rescue. David James had already got away with two glaring mistakes on crosses, yet he would not be so fortunate on the third occasion.
The Portsmouth goalkeeper charged off his line to meet Denilson's free-kick and was beaten to the high ball by William Gallas. As the Arsenal defender's header bounced down and into the net, most inside the stadium exhaled deeply.
This was a subdued Arsenal performance and the lack of confidence was alarming. The crowd murmured their annoyance and, with edginess in the air, it appeared Portsmouth, set up to defend deep, would end their sequence of three Premier League defeats.
Arsene Wenger had left Robin van Persie on the substitutes' bench and, despite the calls from the stands for his introduction, the Arsenal manager stuck to his guns. He always does. Van Persie had been "on the edge" physically after his efforts at Aston Villa on Friday and Wenger was resolved not to risk him, especially on such a cold afternoon.
The Frenchman had also promised to find "different ways to be effective" in the absence of the injured Cesc Fabregas and he made a change early in the second half, moving winger Samir Nasri into a central role behind a lone striker, Emmanuel Adebayor, and pressing Nicklas Bendtner out to the left wing.
He later brought on Carlos Vela and switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Bendtner going over to the right.
"I thought it was 1-0 to the lucky Arsenal," said the Portsmouth manager Tony Adams, with a smile. "That chant has come back to haunt me."
Adams enjoyed his return to the red half of north London, in spite of the result. The Arsenal legend bowed extravagantly to the club's fans before kick-off and was the last person off the field at full time, as he milked the acclaim. He was feted more than any of the Arsenal set-up. "I know, it's fantastic, isn't it?" he said.
Adams, however, has problems. He must attempt to stave off the vultures next month, who will swoop for Jermain Defoe, whom he left out here for tactical reasons, and Glen Johnson, who has a knee injury. Portsmouth, deep in debt, are up for sale and it is unlikely Adams will see too much of the €25 million that has been raised through the sale of Lassana Diarra to Real Madrid.
"There is a bit of a mental problem," said Adams, of matters on the field, where he will be without Papa Bouba Diop because of a medial knee ligament injury that he picked up late on and Richard Hughes, who sustained a groin problem. "We are so desperate to do well that we are beating ourselves. The players just have to stay calm and concentrate on their jobs."
Portsmouth have not beaten Arsenal for 50 years, but it is anybody's guess how the home team would have reacted and the match would have panned out if Peter Crouch, having leapt above Gallas in the 23rd minute, had not seen his header bounce to safety off the post.
Adebayor, a focus for the Arsenal fans' frustrations, burst through shortly afterwards and eluded the advancing James only to be thwarted by Sylvain Distin's saving challenge, but that was pretty much it in the first half.
James livened up the second period. He dropped Nasri's corner and Mikael Silvestre almost made capital, and he missed a punch to present Adebayor with an opening that he dragged into the side netting.
"No matter what we do recently, we are always swimming against bad headlines," lamented Wenger, through tinted spectacles. There would have been more but for James.
